Lloyds lifts PPI provisions to £1.2 - £1.8bn; suspends buyback

Lloyds Bank said it was increasing provision for payment protection insurance (PPI) to £1.2bn - £1.8bn in its third quarter and suspending its share buyback programme after a higher-than-expected spike in claims ahead of the August deadline.

The company on Monday said it the provisions would be in addition to the £650m made at the half year. Consumers rushed before the August 31 final deadline to make claims against banks for PPI mis-selling.

"In line with the broader market, the volume of personal information requests received in August was higher than expected, with a significant spike in the final days before the deadline expired," Lloyds said in a statement.

“The group now expects capital build in 2019 to be below our ongoing 170 to 200 basis points per annum guidance and for the statutory return on tangible equity to be lower than our 2019 guidance of around 12%, with the final outcome dependent on the actual charge taken.”

It added that with the "uncertainty around the final outcome for PPI" it had decided to suspend its 2019 buyback programme, with £600m of the up to £1.75bn programme expected to be unused at mid-September.

The bank said it had received 600,0000-800,000 requests for information about PPI per week in August, well above its previous assumptions of 190,000 a week.